What's left of me is yours to keep
by Joanna Butler
Summary: Just fluff to write when I become bored. (Adrian might finally find out who Ladybug is behind the mask because the cannon torture is real) P.S. my sister named this fan fiction ;)
1. Chapter 1

The thought had popped into his mind sometime after the run in with The Pharaoh. The history book that Ladybug had dropped meant that she was his age at least. She may have denied it, but that could just mean that she was trying to avoid narrowing down who Ladybug could be. Then he started connecting curious coincidences. The Horrificator sealed the whole school, but somehow Ladybug was there to save the day. That meant that she had to be already inside the building. When that thought popped into his mind, he couldn't resist playing with it. Adrien had the curiosity of a cat. Especially when the thing he wanted to know about had anything to do with his lady.

Adrien was playing with the idea of going to school with his lady just as he got out of chemistry class (which he was extremely late to) Nino was walking with him to the library to get some studying in (for chemistry because… absences) when something his best friend said that snagged him out of his thoughts.

"Wha? What did you just say Nino?" Adrien suddenly gave his friend all of his attention.

"Huh? That we should have a study group with Marinette and Alya?"

"Before that?!"

"That you need to stop skipping chem?"

"After that!"

"That you and Marinette should study together because you are both either always absent or late?"

"Yes! You are a genius! We should ask her… them." Adrien felt himself getting excited. Marinette was brave, and sweet. She also had black hair and blue eyes. If she missed what he missed in school, that could mean that she was busy fighting crime alongside Chat Noir. It all fit. Was prying okay though? He couldn't help it if he just figured it out right? Also, how in the world had he not thought of this sooner?!

"Study together!? I love books! I mean books have pages and you read them and studying is how you use them but sometimes you just read them for the fun of it…" Marinette abruptly stopped talking with a soft kick from Alya. She grinned widely and just gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah that sounds cool. Maybe over lunch break tomorrow?" Alya recovered the conversation for her silly best friend who always fumbled over words in front of Adrien.

Adrien just nodded. Ladybug never ranted or stuttered. She was so confident and she always had a plan. Still, he couldn't write Marinette off yet. There were too many similarities. Plus, it wasn't like the Adrien that everyone knew acted like Chat Noir. He had more courage and self-expression as Chat Noir, so maybe Ladybug had more confidence as Ladybug. It both bothered him greatly and gave him great satisfaction to think of that. On one side, it meant that there were still so many sides of his love that he had never seen. But on the other, it meant that he was better acquainted with her secret side than anyone else.

After school, Adrien spent more time than he should on Alya's blog again. He felt closer than ever before and he really hopped that he wasn't wrong. He desperately wanted to know everything about Ladybug. He saw her every day, but she was so far away from him.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you Luna for telling me about the names… I looked up how to spell them all and I can assure that they are all correct now (well according to the wiki page they are now correct)… This week is college finals so wish me luck… like a lot of luck. T.T

None of these characters belong to me.

* * *

The study group had been more or less of a bust. Marinette ranted unintelligibly when he tried talking to her about little things. He had asked about hobbies and such, looking for any non-crime fighting reason for her to miss the same classes. She rambled a bit, and after the study group, all Adrien was sure of was that Marinette was just probably really shy or something. Well that and Marinette, while quite awkward, was incredibly smart. She was probably the most helpful when it came to explaining the work. Alya took the best notes though. As a team, Alya and Marinette were practically unstoppable. No unbalanced chemical equation could get in their way.

After the study group, another idea soon popped into his head. What if they had the same body type? That's something you couldn't change. She could put contacts and a wig on, but her height couldn't be changed. He didn't think it was a good idea to ask a lady about her weight, so he disregarded it as unnecessary. So Adrien decided to try and piece little things together in hopes of getting the whole picture. All that's left in step one is to measure both Ladybug and Marinette.

Marinette was relatively easy to measure. Adrien had walked up to her and asked her if he could measure her. She had awkwardly given every response you could give, something along the lines of: "Yes! No. No? What? Why? Yes."

Adrien awkwardly fumbled on some lie about it being a modeling thing. She just nodded and somehow he had her measured and had written down her height in a little book he had dedicated to everything Ladybug before he registered what was happening.

Next was Ladybug. Adrien went into this as Chat Noir, and he came into it with the thought that it would be harder to get Ladybug's height. He couldn't tell her any stupid lie about modeling sense she didn't know he was actually Adrien Agreste. What was he going to say?! He was still brainstorming when the next akuma showed up. They got rid of the akuma rather quickly… (Chat Noir being more motivated than usual)

"Pound it!"

"See you around Chat." She smiled at him and waved before turning to leave. For a moment he got lost in her smile, almost forgetting about his goal for the day.

"Wait! My lady! I have a question!" Chat called after her and she stopped to turn around and look at him suspiciously. "Can I get your height?"

This seemed to catch her by surprise. "That wasn't what I thought you'd ask" She laughed, "What do you want with my height?"

With that smile and that laugh, Adrien was convinced that she was an actual angel. She had to be his own personal angel that the heavens sent to Earth just to smile at him. Adrien had trouble thinking of anything other than how absolutely… _perfect_ she is when she smiled. 'I'm going to make her smile as often as I can' he quickly pledged to himself.

"Well… I um…" He looked around, anywhere but her. Maybe he should have waited until he devised a plan. "I have an attack plan! So how tall you are is important to work out the dynamics. You know, like the special attack in video games. Wouldn't it be cool to have one?"

"Oh… Okay? Wouldn't my weight be important too then?"

Wait. He could ask her weight? Wasn't that bad? He didn't want to make Ladybug mad at him… has she ever been mad at him? What's happening. Is this okay?

Chat smiled and shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm sure my Lady is perfectly light. It won't make a difference. J-just… size."

Ladybug just looked at him skeptically before sighing. "I'll just trust that you have a plan Chat. Do you want about how tall I am, or do you want to actually measure me?"

"Thanks Bugaboo!" Chat smiled and pulled out a ruler. After he measured her, she ran off because she was just about to transform back. (Adrien should get going too). He had felt a pang of guilt when she had said that she trusts him. Was this going behind her back? He felt kinda like he was trying to trick her into giving him information he planned on using to find out who she was…. Which was technically what he was doing. He started on this whole path because of the irresistible thought of going to school with his lady and getting to spend more time with her… but was this betraying her trust? That was the last thing he ever wanted to do. But then again, he didn't have time to feel bad. He had to come up with an attack plan that would make his Lady proud of him.

Adrian had found out that right down to the last Millimeter, Ladybug was the same height as Marinette. So maybe he was actually onto something….

* * *

Also, if anyone wants to message me about anything… do it. Just do it. If I made a mistake, I will happily listen to your correction. Aaaaaaaaaaand pleasantly worded reviews of any kind make me more inspired to update… so please by all means… review. Please (love me)


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry this took so long even after receiving lovely comments! It's almost break and I'll try and make it up to you during it! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

* * *

After thinking about it really really really hard. Adrien had come up with nothing. Maybe he should just ask his Lady where she goes to school? That would be so much less stressful... and she might even just tell him her identity. She recently seemed like she wanted to say something really badly. She kept stopping herself for some reason.

There has been a few days since the last akuma (which was pretty suspicious if you ask Adrien) but it also meant that he could look into Marinette more. By some weird coincidence, he kept looking over at her just as she looked over at him. They both looked at each other too often, it was very awkward. Was she weirded out by his sudden interest in her? He thought he was being discrete with his investigation.

He had always thought of Marinette as a friend, but he was a little awkward and didn't really know how to talk to people. Even though that was the case, she was really fun to be around. If she really was Ladybug, he would be happy that it was her. He could play videogames with his Lady and work on school with her. He could just be around her, and she would be someone he already knew and thought highly of.

"Dude? You've been like out of it lately. What's up?" Nino waved a hand in front of Adrien.

"Oh… I… stuff?" Adrien thought desperately on what he'd actually say to that. Oh nothing, I just have been saving Paris behind your back as Chat because ya know, I couldn't even tell you even though you're my best friend. Not only that, I've been in love with my lady since we had first met and neglected to say a single word about it. "A girl."

"What!? Bro! What girl?" Oh well Nino looked happy and Adrien felt himself start to blush, mostly because Marinette and Ayla were right behind Nino. He was thinking about a girl yes, but he didn't know if that girl was the one he liked… and she was standing right behind Nino with her best friend.

"Ooooh what's this I hear about a girl?" Ayla asked loudly as she wrapped her arm around Nino.

"Oh uh that one girl... the one on TV" Adrien stuttered out while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh haha yeah, that girl" Marinette laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah that girl" Adrien laughed awkwardly.

"Hey Nino do you know what they are talking about?" Ayla said, elbowing Nino lightly in the side while not taking her eyes off the increasingly awkward scene.

"No clue babe" Nino replied.

"Any plans for today!?" Ayla yelled between them all to get them to stop, "Nino and I have a date"

"Oh really? Have fun you two!" Marinette turned her attention to her best friend and smiled, she was happy that it worked out between Nino and Ayla. Her cheeks were still a little pink though, and Adrien thought it was adorable.

* * *

The scene was resolved with everyone saying their goodbyes and walking off in different directions (except Ayla and Nino who walked off together). That was almost a mess, but it's not like he could have said the truth to them. If she was Ladybug, he doubted that Marinette would be very happy about being exposed. If she wasn't Ladybug, he could have risked being found out by three unrelated people. People he cared about yes, but they still shouldn't know his identity for their sakes.

Not knowing who Ladybug was frustrated him. He was so close to her, yet so far away. He was himself around her but she didn't know who he was. There was a disconnect in their relationship and the only way he could think of fixing that was knowing her face. He knew her sarcastic quips and he knew she was amazingly smart and resourceful, but he didn't know the little silly things you'd normally know about a friend. He didn't know the things that friends talked about with each other and it felt wrong.

Above all, he just loves her. He didn't really care who she is. He just wants to know her.


End file.
